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McLaren has secured planning permission for a factory extension at its Woking headquarters that will house a new in-house Formula 1 test rig. Woking Borough Council planning officers approved updated works covering the rig and an external condenser, with documents submitted by architects tor&co stating the expansion is needed because the current McLaren Technology Centre factory is full.
Oscar Piastri and Sergio Perez have pointed to the “lead-up” to Formula 1 as a major hidden barrier for non-European drivers, with both saying the biggest challenge is reaching F1 rather than succeeding once there. Perez said European drivers have an advantage because they are already based in Europe, while those from elsewhere often need to relocate at a young age, bringing added complications. Piastri, who also moved to Europe during his junior career, agreed, adding that once on the grid opportunities are broadly the same: “Definitely the lead-up into F1 is a little bit more challenging. There are a few more tough decisions to make. But once you're there, it's the same challenge for everyone of being in the right place at the right time and trying to show you're the best."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes is trying to keep Kimi Antonelli “grounded” and play the “long game” rather than fuel Formula 1 title talk after the Italian’s three consecutive Grand Prix wins, including Miami, which has left him 20 points ahead of team-mate George Russell after four races. Wolff said: "There are so many requests for his time from the media, from sponsors, and it's on us to keep the handbrake on that. This is the long game, he has a killer of a teammate that is extremely fast. We want to play the long game, he can hopefully win many championships over 10 years, 15 years, we don't want to stumble now with these huge expectations on him."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Mercedes still has the faster car in 2026, especially in high-speed corners. Stella said: "I think there's a few indications... that tell that Mercedes is a faster car. In qualifying, we see that Mercedes don't have any problem with deployment like they had in the sprint qualy. And on average, if we see the behaviour of the car in the corners, they are faster than us. The corners in which they are mainly faster than us are the high-speed corners."
Max Verstappen says dealing with traffic could be one of the toughest challenges he faces on his debut at this weekend’s Nurburgring 24 Hours, with weather and reliability also key unknowns. Verstappen said: "It can be anything really [about the toughest challenge he will face this weekend]: dealing with traffic, you don't know what happens with your car or whatever, [weather] conditions. Is there rain involved or not? That will make it a lot harder. If it's fully dry and beautiful, then it's a bit different. You're just trying to go basically as fast as you can without taking too many risks."
Pierre Gasly says Red Bull’s struggles at the start of the new season have been “quite surprising”, with the team yet to score a podium after the opening four rounds. Gasly said: "After Bahrain, I was sure that they were part of the top four battles. Looking at Australia, they looked pretty strong there. I think they hit the ground in a very good way. But for whatever reason, after that, it was a lot more difficult. It's been quite surprising."
Lando Norris says he will be watching as much of Max Verstappen’s Nürburgring 24 Hours challenge as possible this weekend. Norris said: "I'll be watching maybe not the whole 24 hours, but as much as possible and spotting Max because he's a guy that I respect a lot. I've enjoyed watching him and Christopher Haase racing the last few weeks."
Alex Albon says the Miami Grand Prix has become “enjoyable” for him as the event has improved how the weekend is run, speaking in a Williams video with former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard. Albon said: "But then as time has gone on, I feel like they've improved the structure of the races and just the teams, the way they've sorted themselves out coming to Miami as well. It's enjoyable now. I really enjoy it."
RacingNews365 reports Max Verstappen will miss Wednesday’s opening ceremonial parade through Adenau ahead of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring after organisers advised against his attendance on safety grounds, given the expected crowds. For the same reason, Verstappen is also set to miss the meet-and-greet and autograph session at the circuit later in the weekend, with organisers stressing it is a safety decision rather than unwillingness on his part.
PlanetF1 reports the FIA has confirmed its ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) scheme for the 2026 F1 power unit regulations will come into effect after next weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. The FIA said the first ADUO assessment period has been adjusted to cover the season’s first five races (Australia, China, Japan, Miami and Canada) due to calendar disruption, with results to be communicated no later than two weeks after the Canadian GP.
Jolyon Palmer says Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli is unlikely to let his title fight with team-mate George Russell turn acrimonious at this stage of the season. Palmer said: "He is young. He's out of contract at the end of the year currently, which seems amazing right now. I don't think he's going to nuke the team by going all acrimonious on George for the gain of seven points or 10 points, or whatever the swing might be, at least at this stage. Maybe, if they're close in September, October, we'll start to see what the real Kimi is like at that point."
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack says he will not be drawn on when the team will bring performance upgrades to the AMR26, with the team focused on improving reliability and extracting more from its current package. Krack said: "I think we have obviously seen over the last weeks and months... the way... we have made steps on the reliability and on the reduction of the vibration, on the improvement of the drivability. I think we have already seen quite substantial upgrades so far. So I will not get drawn into next race, the race after, or whatever is going to come... but... we also must acknowledge that it is a big gap to close."
McLaren CEO Zak Brown says the team have thought about producing their own version of the radical ‘Macarena’ wing after Ferrari and Red Bull ran similar designs. Brown said: "We have [thought about it]. As you can imagine, all the teams look at what each other do. It's clever and we think it could be beneficial, so not surprised to see another team using it."
Ford’s Mark Rushbrook said he would prefer Max Verstappen to race in Ford machinery rather than the Red Bull-branded Mercedes-AMG GT3 the Red Bull driver is set to use at the Nurburgring 24 Hours this weekend. Rushbrook said: "We prefer our Ford drivers to stay in Ford. We understand why he did that [the Mercedes deal]. That's the right program for him right now, but obviously we'd love to [have] him in a Ford in the sportscar world."
Lando Norris says F1 drivers are often "blindsided" to the business and cost factors behind rules and regulations, as he backed Lewis Hamilton’s suggestion that drivers should have a greater say after regulation changes were approved for Miami without them being involved. Norris said: "Sometimes I think we have to accept, as drivers, we're very blindsided to the externals from a business side of things, how teams work, how all of that is organised. We have to accept that we're maybe not always completely correct, but I think the majority of things that we think of as drivers and what we want for the sport is a win-win. It's just how some of those things are done and not always able to be easily implemented."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes must "contain" the hype around 19-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli and limit the demands on his time after the Italian’s strong start to the 2026 Formula 1 season. Wolff said: "The bigger problem is the Italian public. Now that they are not qualified for the football [World Cup], it's all about [Jannik] Sinner and Antonelli. After Sinner won in Madrid, it's the two that are superstars, and that's something that we need to contain. There are so many requests for his time from the media, from sponsors, and it's on us to keep the handbrake on that. That is the risk, that he is being carried away too quickly."
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